South Africa

With over a century of history and experience under its belt, Reunert is successfully serving local and international markets by managing a number of businesses in the electronics and low-voltage electrical engineering sectors.

Founded in 1888, the group started as an importer and distributor of industrial equipment within South Africa. Since then, it has undergone many changes, remaining strong throughout its constant evolution.

In 1997, company CEO Gerrit Pretorius spearheaded a restructuring program that changed the company into a focused, competitive organization committed to supplying value-added products, systems and solutions in various sectors.

"In the past five years, we have successfully concentrated on our core competencies," Pretorius says. "Today, we are focused on two parallel lines: low-voltage electrical engineering and electronic services. Reunert has played a major role in the South African economy for more than a hundred years and we are here to stay."
Reunert Group Chief Executive Gerrit Pretorius

Reunert Group is composed of 16 companies, most of which dominate their respective sectors by supplying top quality products and services locally and internationally. The company's powerhouses include Nashua, Panasonic, Circuit Breaker Industries and Siemens Telecommunications.

"We have had a longstanding relationship with Ricoh, a subsidiary of Nashua involved in office automation. Nashua is the dominant supplier of office automation equipment in South Africa. Reunert also runs one of the few Panasonic factories outside of Japan which manufactures televisions for export," Pretorius explains.

Situated in a resource-based country teeming with primary industries, Reunert has blazed its own path by taking advantage of growth opportunities through product development.

"In the current financial year, we will spend R120 million (about $11.73 million) on research and development alone. The fact is we have our own products, our own know-how and therefore, our own intellectual property. This enables us to build up a portfolio of products, which we sell within and outside of Africa. It is based on what we have developed ourselves over time and this, to a large extent, is what differentiates us from other South African companies," he says.

Among its other achievements, Reunert's is also actively involved in various social programs. The company's flagship endeavor, begun a decade ago, is Reunert College. "It is an educational bridging program that allows our students access to tertiary education, specifically in the engineering field," Pretorius explains.

"Our approach is to empower disadvantaged individuals by educating them. We are a small company. Over a ten-year period, however, we have enabled 400 students to go to university. If we could only get 100 other companies to do the same! Education is essential to the economic growth of South Africa and we at Reunert are proud of our contribution to our country," he adds.

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